Assessing the impact of episodic pollution

The increased tightening of controls on industrial and municipal wastewater discharges has resulted in steady improvements in the quality of many important rivers over recent years. However, episodic pollution, particularly from farm wastes and combined sewer overflows continues to pose a major problem, and is one of the main causes of poor quality rivers today. Despite our acknowledgement of this continuing problem, very little is known of the mechanistic basis of responses and recovery of aquatic organisms and communities exposed to intermittent pulses of common pollutants. The majority of ecotoxicological studies to date have been concerned with the effects of continuous exposure. Although such studies may provide a means of predicting the impact of episodic pollution events, a more appropriate test design would be to assess toxicity under pulsed and fluctuating exposure. Studies should also include a post-exposure observation period and should consider recovery of individuals and communities. This paper reviews the results of reported studies relevant to the investigation of episodic pollution and pays particular attention to the effects of magnitude, duration and frequency of exposure. Results of field investigations using an in situ bioassay technique are also presented to emphasize the importance of field validation of proposed water quality criteria for intermittent pollution events.     

光钳操纵生物活体的动态监测技术的研究

采用摄像、录像和视屏监控系统及显色偏振装置与光钳系统耦合,从空间分辨、色分辨和时间分辨多方面改善系统品质,实现了光钳捕获与操纵生物活体的动态监测、实时记录、资料保存和屏幕再现的功能,并能测量光钳操纵细胞的位移量和由此计算操纵速度,提高了光钳的自我调整和光钳操纵细胞的精细度。本研究为激光光钳技术在细胞工程等方面的应用研究提供了行之有效的技术手段。     

An Olfactory Stimulus Modifies Nighttime Sleep in Young Men and Women

Aromatherapy is an anecdotal method for modifying sleep and mood. However, whether olfactory exposure to essential oils affects night‐time objective sleep remains untested. Previous studies also demonstrate superior olfactory abilities in women. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of an olfactory stimulus on subsequent sleep and assessed gender differences in such effects. Thirty‐one young healthy sleepers (16 men and 15 women, aged 18 to 30 yr, mean±SD, 20.5±2.4 yr) completed 3 consecutive overnight sessions in a sleep laboratory: one adaptation, one stimulus, and one control night (the latter 2 nights in counterbalanced order). Subjects received an intermittent presentation (first 2 min of each 10 min interval) of an olfactory (lavender oil) or a control (distilled water) stimulus between 23:10 and 23:40 h. Standard polysomnographic sleep and self‐rated sleepiness and mood data were collected. Lavender increased the percentage of deep or slow‐wave sleep (SWS) in men and women. All subjects reported higher vigor the morning after lavender exposure, corroborating the restorative SWS increase. Lavender also increased stage 2 (light) sleep, and decreased rapid‐eye movement (REM) sleep and the amount of time to reach wake after first falling asleep (wake after sleep onset latency) in women, with opposite effects in men. Thus, lavender serves as a mild sedative and has practical applications as a novel, nonphotic method for promoting deep sleep in young men and women and for producing gender‐dependent sleep effects.     

Comparison of Two Different Actigraphs with Polysomnography in Healthy Young Subjects

The present study aimed to compare two commercially available actigraphs, with a concurrent polysomnographic (PSG) recording. Twelve healthy volunteers (six women; age range 19–28 yrs) simultaneously wore the Basic Mini‐Motionlogger® and Actiwatch® for seven overnight polysomnographic recordings. Comparisons of the following sleep measures were focused on: sleep onset latency (SOL), total sleep time, wake after sleep onset, and sleep efficiency. Both devices underestimated SOL in comparison to PSG, but they had similar performance compared to PSG for the other sleep measures. A limit of the study is that the results can be only generalized to healthy young subjects.     

Optimization of norovirus virus‐like particle production in Pichia pastoris using a real‐time near‐infrared bioprocess monitor

The production of norovirus virus‐like particles (NoV VLPs) displaying NY‐ESO‐1 cancer testis antigen in Pichia pastoris BG11 Mut⁺ has been enhanced through feed‐strategy optimization using a near‐infrared bioprocess monitor (RTBio^® Bioprocess Monitor, ASL Analytical, Inc.), capable of monitoring and controlling the concentrations of glycerol and methanol in real‐time. The production of NoV VLPs displaying NY‐ESO‐1 in P. pastoris has potential as a novel cancer vaccine platform. Optimization of the growth conditions resulted in an almost two‐fold increase in the expression levels in the fermentation supernatant of P. pastoris as compared to the starting conditions. We investigated the effect of methanol concentration, batch phase time, and batch to induction transition on NoV VLP‐NY‐ESO‐1 production. The optimized process included a glycerol transition phase during the first 2 h of induction and a methanol concentration set point of 4 g L^?1 during induction. Utilizing the bioprocess monitor to control the glycerol and methanol concentrations during induction resulted in a maximum NoV VP1‐NY‐ESO‐1 yield of 0.85 g L^?1. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:518–526, 2016     

儿童阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征与肥胖的相关性研究

目的:探讨儿童阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停/低通气综合征(OSAHS)与肥胖的相关性。方法:收集单纯性肥胖儿童120例和体重正常儿童110例作为研究对象,进行统一的体格检查和专科检查,并进行多导睡眠监测记录阻塞性呼吸暂停指数(OAI)、呼吸暂停/低通气指数(AHI)、中枢性呼吸暂停指数(CAI)、最低血氧饱和度(LSa O2)和睡眠效率。结果:肥胖组OSAHS患病率为58.33%显著高于对照组的31.82%,差异有统计学意义(P0.05);OAI、AHI、CAI均显著高于对照组,而LSa O2、睡眠效率指标显著低于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(均P0.05);多因素回归分析显示,肥胖、扁桃体增生、腺样体增生是导致OSAHS的独立危险因素,差异有统计学意义(均P0.05)。结论:肥胖是儿童OSAHS发病的重要影响因素,特别是合并扁桃体肿大或腺样体肿大的患儿应注意预防OSAHS的发生。     

气候变化背景下近30年祁连山高寒荒漠分布时空变化

高寒荒漠作为青藏高原植被带谱的顶端类型广泛分布于祁连山高海拔地区, 其生长和分布条件与周边区域差异明显, 对气候变化的响应更为敏感, 且研究较少。该文利用1990年以来的Landsat TM、OLI数据, 采用决策树分类和人工目视解译方法, 提取了祁连山高寒荒漠的分布范围。结合气候变化情况, 综合分析了气候变化背景下近30年祁连山高寒荒漠分布的动态变化及其时空差异。结果表明: (1)近30年增温气候变化过程中, 祁连山高寒荒漠分布范围呈萎缩趋势, 萎缩速率约为348.3 km ²·a ^-1, 萎缩变化幅度表现为西段>中段>东段, 局部地段上存在扩张现象。上述现象导致高寒荒漠下界平均海拔以每10年约15 m的平均速率向更高海拔推进, 向上推进幅度为西段>东段>中段; (2)受水热条件控制, 近30年祁连山高寒荒漠分布动态变化集中分布在低坡度地区。由于水热背景条件的空间差异, 祁连山东段和中段阳坡上高寒荒漠分布动态变化大于阴坡, 而在祁连山西段表现相反; (3) 1990年以来, 祁连山增温显著, 降水量微弱增加。在气候变化以及区域地形限制共同影响下, 祁连山高寒荒漠分布变化时空差异明显, 且过渡带上归一化植被指数与气温相关性高于降水量。以上结果表明, 气候变化影响祁连山高寒荒漠分布动态变化及其空间差异, 但气温是主要的影响因子, 增温促进了高寒荒漠下接植被带主体高寒草甸的生长。     

信息素在文物害虫防治中的应用与展望

文物害虫会对文物古建筑造成不可逆的破坏,因此害虫防治是文物保护的重要工作。随着博物馆引入有害生物综合防治（Integrated Pest Management,IPM）策略,博物馆的害虫防治也开始遵循“预防为主,防治结合”理念。昆虫体外信息素是IPM中重要的技术手段。该技术可对害虫进行监测与诱杀,有利于对害虫发生规律的研究与数量控制。且信息素具有用量少,不接触文物等优点。本文概述信息素的发展、种类与功能,整理了文物害虫信息素及其应用中的遇到的问题,并展望信息素的应用前景。     

Potential exposure assessment errors associated with body-worn RF dosimeters

Personal exposure meters for assessing exposure to RF electric or magnetic fields are subject to errors associated with perturbations of the fields by the presence of the human body. Although these alterations are complex they are not completely unpredictable. This article concludes that this error in a common worst-case scenario could reach up to 30 dB and therefore is of concern for exposure assessment. We present several guidelines to address this issue and a useful insight into the overall problem based on finite-difference time-domain simulations and experimental verification.     

Simpler is better: fewer non‐target insects trapped with a four‐component chemical lure vs. a chemically more complex food‐type bait for Drosophila suzukii

Baits – fermented food products – are generally attractive to many types of insects, which makes it difficult to sort through non‐target insects to monitor a pest species of interest. We test the hypothesis that a chemically simpler and more defined attractant developed for a target insect is more specific and attracts fewer non‐target insects than a chemically more complex food‐type bait. A four‐component chemical lure isolated from a food bait and optimized for the spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), was compared to the original wine/vinegar bait to assess the relative responses of non‐target insects. In several field experiments in Washington State, USA, it was shown that numbers of pest muscid flies, cutworm and armyworm moths, and pest yellowjackets were reduced in traps baited with the chemical lure compared to the wine/vinegar bait. In other field experiments in the states of Washington, Oregon, and New York, numbers of non‐target drosophilid flies were also reduced in traps baited with the chemical lure relative to wine/vinegar bait. In Washington, numbers of Drosophila melanogaster Meigen and Drosophila obscura Fallen species groups and Drosophila immigrans Sturtevant were reduced in the chemical lure traps, whereas in New York, D. melanogaster and D. obscura species groups, D. immigrans, Drosophila putrida Sturtevant, Drosophila simulans Sturtevant, Drosophila tripunctata Loew, and Chymomyza spp. numbers were reduced. In Oregon, this same effect was observed with the D. melanogaster species group. Taken together, these results indicate that the four‐component SWD chemical lure will be more selective for SWD compared to fermentation baits, which should reduce time and cost involved in trapping in order to monitor SWD.